1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a trailer towing assistance device and more specifically it relates to a trailer tow ski system for assisting in supporting the weight of a trailer hitch during pulling of the trailer thereby removing all of the tongue weight from the towing vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Trailer units have a trailer hitch that is removably connected to a motorized vehicle. One type of trailer unit is a fish house trailer (a.k.a. ice fishing trailer) used for ice fishing on ice during the winter. Conventional fish house trailers typically have two or four wheels to allow them to be pulled by the motorized vehicle to various locations on a lake or over land. Recently, fish house trailers have become increasingly larger in size and weight requiring larger motorized vehicles having larger suspensions to support the weight of the fish house trailer during moving of the fish house trailer. Some fish house trailers have lengths of 16 feet and have a gross weight of over 5,000 pounds with the weight increasing based on items placed in the fish house trailer by the end user.
While a large ¾ ton pickup truck may not have a problem moving most fish house trailers, a compact SUV, all-terrain vehicle (ATV; e.g. three-wheeler, four-wheeler) or utility task vehicle (UTV; a.k.a. side by side) will have difficulties because their suspensions are not designed to support the tongue weight of the trailer hitch of the fish house trailer. Therefore, as the size and weight of trailer units increases, the type of motorized vehicles capable of moving the trailer units decreases not because the motor sizes are insufficient but because the vehicle suspensions are not capable of supporting the tongue weight of the trailer hitch. It should be noted that even larger motorized vehicles can struggle to tow a larger trailer unit over snow or ice because of the combined increase tongue weight of the trailer hitch and the reduced traction to the wheels.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved trailer tow ski system for assisting in supporting the weight of a trailer hitch during pulling of the trailer.